Technology and Wall Street: Change is Coming
FinTech Forecast
I started my day with a cup of coffee, and a look at the future from some of the most innovative minds in the world of financial technology. While the coffee was just fine, the look into the crystal ball was the experience that really energized me.
A just-published article from Business Insider, written by the talented John Marino, asked a range of FinTech innovators what changes they predicated were coming Wall Street's way.
A number of comments dealt with the nuts and bolts of technology infrastructure: the shift from locked-down, vertical platforms to more horizontal, Linux-like strategies, the impact of Blockchain technology (thank you, Bitcoin), and more. Fascinating, and an eye-opening look at how early tech innovation is changing the foundation of financial services.
The even-more interesting insights, from my point of view, however, dealt with the human factor. These industry innovators, to a one, connected the dots between the technology innovation and the most important part of the industry's equation: the financial services consumer.
At the end of the day, if innovation does not drive an improved consumer interaction, with the resulting adoption and retention, then it's not an improvement to the enterprise.
Kabbage's Rob Frowhein made the point that the line between banks and non-banks will blur as financial services providers deliver an Apple Store-like experience. Wells Fargo's Head of Innovation, Steve Ellis, said it best when he simply stated: "Business is personal."
Indeed it is. And so should be the technology that drives that business.
My take-away from this article is equally simple:
"Technology exists to serve the customer, and erase the boundaries between transaction and interaction."
The truly excellent FinTech innovation will be measured not by the elegance of the integration, but in the seamless appeal it hold for the marketplace, and the enterprise's ability to communicate, connect with, and capture the customer.
Article here.
